


Semantics

by cruisedirector



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk (2008), The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Family, Bottom Tony Stark, Commitment, Drabble Sequence, Enthusiastic Consent, Eventual Happy Ending, Fear, First Time, Fucking, Hand Jobs, Hulk Feels, Hulk Smash, Immortality, Kissing, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, No Safeword, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Possessive Behavior, Relationship(s), Restraints, Rough Kissing, Science Boyfriends, Science Bros, Submission, Suicidal Thoughts, Surprise Kissing, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2015-06-26
Packaged: 2018-03-30 06:29:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3926344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruisedirector/pseuds/cruisedirector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony has never thought of the Hulk as "the other guy."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [Semantics 语义论](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4066462) by [Analgisia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Analgisia/pseuds/Analgisia)



> After hatching a dozen out-of-order new chapters, I am declaring this finished. Sorry, I didn't know Tony had so much to say!

The test goes perfectly. As the device whirrs, Tony Stark crows in triumph, flinging his arms around Bruce.

"Right now, Banner, I could..."

He doesn't finish saying it; instead, he does it. It's a beautiful kiss, one of the best of Tony's life, with Bruce's lips warm and pliant against his own.

Then he's being kissed back, not gently but hungrily. Hands clutch at his back. So, not the first time Bruce has thought about this, either.

Abruptly Bruce breaks it off, glasses fogged, mouth twisted miserably. Not angry, at least. Not the Hulk.

"I can't do this," Bruce says.


	2. Chapter 2

"I can't" is a phrase that Tony can never accept. Either you aren't trying hard enough, or it's a matter of rephrasing the original request.

Banner knows that, so he should know better than to answer Tony's query with, "I just can't."

"You've tried?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes. I could have killed the only woman I ever loved."

"That's a lot to put on one woman. Maybe you need less passion involved. Can you do it yourself?" Bruce's glower can't disguise a promising blush. "Then the issue's not physiological. You just need the right partner."


	3. Chapter 3

"It'll be safe because I'll say yes to everything. You can do whatever you want to me." Tony can see what the offer does to Bruce. He's more surprised by what it does to Tony himself, something he's never fully admitted he craves.

"There's nothing safe about that." Bruce's voice sounds as strained as Bruce's pants look with his erection tenting them. "I'll just keep asking for more and more. What I don't want to stop? Or the other guy doesn't?"

Tony doesn't mean to moan, but his own cock aches as if this is a promise, not a threat.


	4. Chapter 4

Bruce's kisses are bruising, like he wants to make a point, but Tony doesn't think the point Bruce proves is the one he intended.

"We should start slow," Bruce mutters. "Maybe not even touch each other." The image of Bruce touching himself is better than any porn in Tony's extensive collection. He fumbles with button and zipper, shoves a hand into his own jeans.

Bruce unbuttons his shirt and Tony watches for any hint of green, but there's only a beautiful flush beneath the lavish hair on Bruce's chest and lower. They come one after another, gasping each other's names.


	5. Chapter 5

"Shhh," whispers Tony. "Just relax. Let me." 

"Slowly." Bruce trembles all over, though he bucks into Tony's hand as if he can't convince his hips to stay still.

Tony is achingly hard, forces himself to ignore it. It's enough that Bruce will let him do this. "Think about something else if it helps..."

"Tony," Bruce grunts and comes all over his hand. It takes a while before Bruce can return the favor, but when he stops shaking, it's slow and thorough.

Tony had anticipated there might be snuggling afterward. He just hadn't expected he'd be the one to need it.


	6. Chapter 6

Though he'll try almost anything, Bruce avoids fucking Tony. At first Tony attributes this to performance anxiety, since Bruce keeps giving hints that Tony must have more experience with men. 

Then Tony realizes why Bruce is terrified.

"If you start changing, we'll stop."

"It's too dangerous. I don't know if I can stop, especially if I start changing."

"You've never hurt me. I trust you. Don't you trust me?"

"How can I, when you're crazy enough to want this?"

Bruce doesn't trust himself, not even in restraints. He shouldn't trust Tony, but he does.

That's even hotter than the sex.


	7. Chapter 7

"Sometimes I think you want the other guy, not me."

Though it's hard to explain, Tony tries to give Bruce an honest reply. "You're the one who thinks of the Hulk as separate from you. I think he's part of you."

"You give me too much credit. You think I control him." Bruce thrusts savagely in emphasis.

"I know you can control yourself." Sometimes Tony thinks Bruce must be jealous of the Hulk, whom nobody ever expects to hold anything back. "You don't have to, with me."

"I think the possibility that I might kill you really turns you on."


	8. Chapter 8

There's no point in bringing up boundaries or safewords. Bruce can't promise to obey them no matter what happens, and deep down, Tony wants what he promised Bruce: no limits.

It's simpler and sexier than it's ever been before. Tony doesn't need restraints or toys or tricks to stay turned on. Bruce will say "here" or "more" or "RIGHT NOW" and sometimes it's enough to bring Tony off even if Bruce hasn't touched him yet.

It's true that Tony tries to provoke Bruce, but not to make him angry. He just wants to know whether the Hulk wants him, too.


	9. Chapter 9

Bruce smiles shyly, the way he does after Tony makes him roar and explode, but what he says is, "Listen, maybe we should stop."

The words are devastating, yet not surprising. Tony has the impression Bruce was mostly with women before he transformed. Maybe only with women. "Is it Natasha?" he demands, failing at nonchalance. Maybe Tony has made it possible for Bruce to believe he can be with Natasha without hurting her.

"What?" Bruce squints, then blushes. "No. It's you. I mean, it's me. I'm afraid I'm, um, getting too attached to you."

Tony's breath catches. "We're not stopping."


	10. Chapter 10

"Are you in love with Bruce?” demands Pepper as she packs. 

"I don't know how to answer that question.” It's too many dresses for one week, but Tony doesn't make a joke. "You know I don't get close to many people. Banner, and Rhodey, and Nick...”

"You don't sleep with Rhodey or Nick,” she cuts in. "Don't bullshit me, Tony. I never expected exclusivity, but I thought I came first.”

"Even if I wanted to stop, I might set off the Hulk...”

But Pepper's right. It's bullshit. "I'll send for the rest of my things,” she says as she leaves.


	11. Chapter 11

Eventually he has to tell Bruce. He waits till he can be casual about it, till it comes up as part of a normal conversation about where Tony's having dinner.

"Pepper's gone."

"Fuck, Tony. I'm sorry. Is it because of me?"

"Course not. It's because of me." But Bruce has his eyes squeezed shut, so Tony's still worried. "She's not coming back, and she's not the one I can't live without, so promise me you won't try to do something noble and stupid like leaving."

Bruce's eyes snap open. "You have me all wrong," he mutters. "I've never been noble."


	12. Chapter 12

"Love" can be really hard to pronounce. Tony knows that from experience. He knows how it sounds with a tongue that just won't work, trying to express it without being able to get the word out.

Tony doesn't remember being saved, but he's seen news footage of the green blotch leaping past the god to catch the red suit. He's heard recordings of the roar of grief that brought him back to life. That wasn't the Hulk crying.

It's still hard to confess to Bruce, yet easier to say it while thinking of the big guy: "I love you too."


	13. Chapter 13

Tony's only a couple of hours late, but both his cool AI and an angry Nick Fury inform him that he disappeared off everyone's screens for most of that time.

He can shut them both up easily enough, yet Tony's not prepared to be greeted in the lab by a roar and the sound of glass shattering. "Easy, big guy," he murmurs, arms open. "I missed you, too."

He's never kissed the Hulk before. It's strange and thrilling. Bruce slips back into his own skin more easily than usual.

For the first time, Tony understands that he's committed for life.


	14. Chapter 14

Everyone wants to wrap up: Rogers, Thor, Romanov and Barton, Rhodes, Wilson, Hill, even Fury. But Bruce is still green, and Tony can see that he's still in pain.

"Listen, big guy," he tries, getting only a roar for his effort. "Banner. Come on back."

Most of the others are looking at Tony expectantly. Natasha deliberately turns away as Tony touches the big green hand. He learned some of this from her.

"Bruce, it's me. " A growl. "Hey, lover."

Rogers, coughing, hustles the others out. They aren't quite gone when Tony kisses the Hulk.

So they all know. So what?


	15. Chapter 15

Thor voices wholehearted approval. Tony's not sure why this surprises him. Norse customs don't really line up with Asgardian behavior, plus Tony's heard pretty wild stories about Loki, whom Thor still loves in spite of everything.

Fury Does Not Want To Talk About It. Neither does Rogers, though he scrupulously treats Tony and Bruce exactly the same as before. Natasha and Clint are full of winks and smirks. Hill can't look him in the eye without blushing.

"You didn't have to kiss me in front of them," protests Bruce, though he's glowing with happiness.

"I wanted to," Tony assures him.


	16. Chapter 16

"Politicians are jerk-offs," mutters Tony, glaring at the news broadcast.

He hears Thor ask, "What's a jerk-off?"

Rogers explains the etymology. When Tony turns to smirk, Rogers adds, "I was in the army, not the priesthood."

"Don't people masturbate on Asgard?" asks Bruce with a scientist's curiosity. Thor looks thunderous.

"Even gods must need to get off," mutters Tony.

"'Get off'?"

Thor turns to Rogers, who recites definitions ranging from departure to acquittal to orgasm. "Or, nowadays, excitement. Like, 'I get off on high-speed roller coasters.'"

"I see," says Thor, pointing at Tony. "Like, he gets off on the Hulk."


	17. Chapter 17

Commitment hadn't been in Tony's vocabulary. Commitment to progress, sure, to scientific inquiry, to improvement, but commitment to one other person? Forever? How did anyone do that? 

The best he'd ever managed, with Pepper, was stable-ish. But Pepper was never likely to hurt herself if he screwed up, let alone to smash apart a city. 

It's not the possibility that Bruce could kill him that turns Tony on. It's the probability that Bruce would kill for him. 

Tony's never believed all that crap about how love can save the world, but in his single case, it might literally be true.


	18. Chapter 18

Bruce doesn't bother to wipe his research notes. He knows Tony could reconstruct them.

"Want to tell me why you're investigating ways to kill yourself?" Tony doesn't need to turn green to smash the tablet.

"I'm trying to figure out whether it's possible to stop the Hulk."

"For months we've been working together on ways to stop the Hulk! You've been looking into ways to kill Bruce before the Hulk can stop you!" Tony tries to lower his voice. "You're scaring me."

Yet Bruce is the one who's trembling. "I'm afraid I can't die. I need to, if you do."


	19. Chapter 19

Tony won't let Bruce call it Project Suicide Pact, so Bruce won't let Tony call it Project Star-Crossed. "It's unscientific," Bruce protests. 

"It's fitting. You're the one who wanted to play Romeo and Juliet. Where's your sense of romance now?" 

They settle on Project Smash Hulk. Fury and Barton assume they're working on some new kind of armor and don't ask questions. 

Natasha's no engineer, but she's the cleverest of them and she's good at cornering Tony. "It's a kill switch for Banner, isn't it?" 

"More a backup plan in case I can't work out the secret to eternal life."


	20. Chapter 20

_Always_ isn't a word Bruce likes. It's too close to _immortal_ , a concept that terrifies him.

But when he's sleepy, Tony forgets. "You always smell so good."

"Thank the other guy." Bruce scowls. "No cellular degeneration, no bacteria out of balance."

"Not even morning breath," agrees Tony, apologizing with a kiss. Bruce lets him, even though Tony doesn't always smell so good. "I could wake up like this forever."

Another complicated word. Bruce frowns. "Forever's a long time." 

Tony burrows closer. "Don't you want forever with me?"

"That's the trouble. I do want forever with you."

Bruce's eyes glow green.


End file.
